Page 197 of The Brothers at Horseshoe Ranch

“So you were trying to go on a date with Shane Wakefield? Really? After he was such a douche canoe in high school?”

“How is he a douche canoe? He and I never even dated. So maybe he’s really sweet.”

“You forget I was on varsity football and baseball with him. And you heard the rumors.”

“I don’t know if the rumors are true.”

“Trust me, the rumors were true.”

Her eyes widened. “I don’t believe it. There’s just no way.”

“Trust me. There was a way.”

“So you are saying it is true that every single member of the varsity cheerleading squad gave him a blowjob?”

“Yep.” I nodded. “Every single member.”

“But didn’t they know about each other?” She shook her head. “That’s so disgusting.”

“They didn’t care, girl. And who knows what lies Shane told them?”

“I guess. But we’re not in high school anymore. He’s changed.”

“Men like Shane Wakefield don’t change. Trust me.”

She sighed. “You think that every guy’s an asshole, but there are some good guys out there.”

“Name me one,” I said.

“Well, there’s Beau, there’s Austin, there’s you, there’s Ranger, there’s—”

“Who’s not a Hamilton.”

“There’s my dad.”

“You want to date your dad?”

“Ew! You’re absolutely disgusting. This isn’t like Oedipus!”

I laughed at the horrified look on her face. “Yeah. Let’s hope not.”

“You’re horrible, you know that, Wyatt?”

“I’m not so horrible that you don’t love me, though.”

“I love you because you’re my best friend. And we’ve been friends for ages, but if I were just meeting you now?”

She wrinkled her nose, and I thought how pretty she looked. I’d missed her. I’d missed laughing with her and bantering with her. I didn’t want her going back to Idaho anytime soon. In fact, I didn’t want her going anywhere anytime soon.

“What are you thinking about?” she asked. “You have a weird expression on your face.”

“I was just thinking that, yeah, maybe I did miss you a little bit.” I grabbed a fry off her plate. “But only because I miss having your annoying little voice in my ear every day.”

“Um, is that some sort of backhanded compliment?” She reached over and took a fry off my plate.

“Is it a backhanded compliment or just a compliment?”

“Does it really make a difference?” She laughed.

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